


A Path of Nightmares Expunged

by AbsVoD7



Category: Underfell - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 00:09:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13178163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsVoD7/pseuds/AbsVoD7
Summary: A final confrontation is at hand as the human and Flowey advance to the throne room in hopes of bringing Asgore's tyranny to an end. The odds have been heavily stacked against the human and friends with the stakes getting higher as more combatants enter. A huge sacrifice is made to turn the tide of battle in favor of the human, but the end of the journey still has another surprise waiting.





	A Path of Nightmares Expunged

**Author's Note:**

> This work picks up after All Set in Bone and is the ninth part of my underfell fan story.

     "I hope you're ready for this," Flowey said as he and the human ran down the hallway. At the very end of it they noticed a placard on the wall that had two simple and important words on it. 

     "We're finally at the throne room," the human said while approaching the door on the right of the placard. 

     "That's odd, I can feel traces of the king's soul energy coming from up ahead, but from what I remember the spiral staircase descending into the lower level is past this door and to the right," he explained with a worried expression on his face. 

     "That's a good thing though, right? If you can still sense the human souls down there then we must not have to worry about them during the battle," they responded optimistically.  _Well the souls are still down there but will_ _it_ _be_ _that simple?_ Flowey thought. As the human pushed the door open they gasped in surprise upon seeing a disorderly garden and an empty throne behind it. 

     "This doesn’t make any sense," the human said while stepping even further into the throne room. 

     "You're telling me," Flowey responded. "I'm certain that I still feel his soul energy so it doesn't add up that no one would be here," he continued. 

     "This is the garden that Mettaton explained to me," the human said as they proceeded to walk around the garden. They couldn't help but take note of all the dust adding a layer of white to all the flowers that were either wilted, broken, or both. 

     "How is this possible?" Flowey said as the two of them approached the throne. "It seems like the origin of the king's magic signature is right here," he continued. Curiosity compelled the human to rub a hand across one of the arms of the throne, but their attention was stolen by a long crimson trident while they were in the middle of doing so. 

     "I've never seen this before, but for some reason it sticks out to me," Flowey said as he watched the human struggle to pick it up. "Kind of like that music box we encountered back in Waterfall," he continued. 

     "There's an absurd amount of dust on this thing, and not the monster kind either," the human said while in the middle of running a hand across the trident. "This thing hasn't been used in a very long time," they finished. 

     "Really, well he still keeps it around so it's here for some reason, I wonder why?" Flowey responded. 

     "That's a relic of inheritance given to those entrusted with the future of monster kind," a mystery voice confirmed from behind them. The duo turned around with shocked expressions on their faces as a mysterious figure cloaked in black stood in the doorway. 

     "You're a goat monster just like Toriel," the human said as they took note of the monster's white fur, and exceptionally larger horns. 

     "Toriel, so much I wanted for her, for all of my family in fact," he said while trampling over the flowers. "This garden was ours, watching it every day filled me with hope, but all of those feelings grew bitter when it became my son's grave," he said while stopping in the center of the garden. 

     "The grief you felt for your son shouldn't have driven you to hurt Toriel," Flowey said. 

     "This is true, I wasn't expecting to permanently damage her, but as long as she was around I couldn't find it in me to make the necessary changes to this world. I had already abandoned the trident long before then, because I no longer saw myself fit to be trusted with their future. The only one would could've done that was Asriel" Asgore explained. 

     "Asriel?" The duo asked 

     "That's right, my son. The hope of monster kind and a brother to the first fallen. Did you know that you were made from his dust?" Asgore said while pointing to Flowey. "Alphys thought she procured his remains unnoticed I bet. I didn't let it show but I wanted more than anything for her to succeed, yet reality had set in once more," he continued. "I'm actually glad you two made it all this way, because I honestly felt that it was time for me to stop holding on," a fire sprung to life at the bottom of Asgore's cape setting the garden ablaze as he finished his sentence. 

     "If the first fallen became a member of the family to you, then shouldn't you have honored their wishes by trying to make friends with the other humans?" Flowey responded as Asgore slowly walked forward. 

     "A heart warming option indeed," Asgore said while extinguishing the flames at the wave of his hand. "I heard that all of them were gems too, they might've even grown to become six guiding lights against the torrent of hatred," he said while taking the trident away from the human. "Still, the hope had long since faded from this place so they lost their lives instead," he said while laying the trident across both arms of the throne. 

     "It didn't have to end that way for them. Could you really not find it in yourself to save one human?" Asgore turned around as they asked the question. 

     "I'm sure you know it wasn't just up to me. Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Muffet, even Toriel much to my surprise. We've all claimed a human's life, and I regret nothing because as delightful as those six probably were, the humans on the surface still bear a hate for us that won't cease unless swallowed by a larger fire," he said while pulling out a weapon that looked like a fusion between a meat cleaver and curved sword. Meanwhile six clear containers emerged from the ground next to the throne each carrying a mass of soul energy that vaguely took on the shape of a heart. 

 _The souls? But they were at the lower level of the castle! I should've known it wasn't going to be that simple for us,_ Flowey thought while getting worried and frustrated. 

     "Woah, we're not done- It's no use, talking was never an option in the first place," Asgore interrupted. 

     "I've seen many monsters slain by humans, I've watched monsters slay other monsters, I've had to put an end to countless monsters myself. Enough dust has spilled before my eyes to plague my memory for as long as I live. No more!" Asgore shouted. "For us, blood is the stepping stone upon which we'll build a new generation of stronger monsters," he finished. 

     "Are you really going to be this stubborn even with another opportunity presenting itself? Either way I won't let you hurt them," Flowey said. 

     "On death's door you still choose to make conversation? Alright then, I guess it has been rather lonely around here. About the souls, I was behind you two the whole time you examined the throne. It seemed like I was already in the room because emptying your vessel of its soul energy is the first step to adjusting to the power created by these humans," he explained while rushing towards them. As he swung at their waist they evaded with a roll to the right. 

     "I'm the only monster capable of functioning normally amidst this typhoon of soul frequencies. So there's nothing your friend can do to help you," he explained as the human was crawling away. 

     "Solid strategy, but I never had a soul to begin with," Flowey said while firing off several soul bullets. 

     "Interesting, I wasn't paying too much attention to her while she was explaining," he responded while blocking the bullets with his blade. "I had actually assumed you would be long dead by then, but I should've expected such a twist from the wild card," he finished. 

     "To your right," Flowey told them as Asgore went for their left arm with a streak of fire. As they rolled out of the way Asgore slowly walked towards them while batting more soul bullets out of the way. 

     "I was impressed to find out that the genuine love in your soul is what carried you to my doorstep from the ruins. It was almost enough to make me feel bad again, but now that you're here I'm actually curious as to how you planned on saving me. There's no mistake you can point out that I haven't already acknowledged," he said while trapping the human in a ring of fire. 

     "You're a human, what's happening here both is and isn't personal," he said while walking up to them. Flowey shot more bullets his way but Asgore continued to deflect them. "More of them are on the way," Asgore said while raising a hand to one ear. "Imagine the looks on their faces upon seeing your soul floating in the presence of the other six, surely the hope in their eyes will shine as bright as day," he said while walking past the human. 

     "I hear it as well, there's a huge mob of monsters heading this way," Flowey told the human. "What are you up to?" He questioned Asgore. 

     "I'm going to take that hope away from them. Their attacks are clear proof that they were never willing to adopt the cruelty needed to claim the world above as our own," he answered. Not too long afterwards a horde of monsters swarmed their way into the throne room but Asgore walled them off by creating a wall of flame. "I'm certain there were more of you earlier, I wonder what could've happened to them," he said with a chuckle. 

     "Hope you enjoyed your last laugh, because you're as good as dead you failure of a king," a random monster threatened. 

     "Failure king? That's appropriate," Asgore responded as a group of fire resistant monsters charged through his fire wall. The duo watched in disarray as he flawlessly picked apart his assailants by maintaining better positioning and taking advantage of their poor synergy. "Nothing wrong with being united in hate, but it seems like that's the extent of your ability to work together," he said while the wall of fire started fading but no other monsters seemed eager to step forward. 

     "What are you waiting for, go get him," a monster said. 

     "Why me, you go first if you think it's that easy," another responded. 

     "Enough, we'll all just blow him away at once," a third ordered. Asgore smiled as the horde proceeded to launch every kind of soul projectile imaginable in his direction. 

     "This is Lordskin," he said while bringing one fist to his chest. Suddenly a bright orange aura emanated from Asgore and every projectile aimed at him bounced off. "This might've been a worthwhile effort if the numbers were as large as before, but in the presence of the human souls none of you are capable of utilizing all of your power," Asgore explained. 

     "Seriously, all of that didn't do anything?" A monster panicked. 

     "Playtime's over, the key to the world you abandoned will now witness your final moments," Asgore said while shrouding his entire body in flames. 

     "Stop!" The human shouted but their plea fell on deaf ears. 

     "Flame Watcher's Persona," Asgore said as his fire expanded tremendously. The flames then twisted into the shape of an exceptionally long horned goat that walked around on four legs. _Unbelievable, despite not being an actual monster, it still trumps_ _Muffet's_ _pet as the largest creature I've ever seen,_ the human thought. 

     "Retreat!" A monster shouted from within the horde. Meanwhile Asgore's persona leaped into the air before hitting the ground with a heat wave powerful enough to incinerate any monsters in the immediate vicinity. Screams were heard as the others tried to escape but they were powerless as the enormous goat broke through the wall to finish them off. 

     "You will be the first human to perish this way, but definitely not the last," the human heard Asgore's voice coming from the head of his persona. They were terrified as the blazing soul mass turned around to stare at them in their circular prison of fire. "Impressive, is it not? Imagine how much larger it'll become when your soul alongside theirs are gathered inside of it," he said while gearing up to charge right into them. 

 _No way, there was nothing we could've done the whole time. At_ _any_ _time_ _he could've set the entire room ablaze, but h_ _e decided to_ _play around_ _with me_   _instead_ , the human thought. "I enjoyed our talk, but I won't delay your fate any longer mirror of the first," he said while charging them with incredible force. The attack was best described as train meeting a volcano. They couldn't even get another thought in before everything they were made of was simultaneously crushed and burned. 

 _Is it really possible_ _for m_ _e to stop him?_ The human thought as they awaited their trip to the hollow world. Things weren't lining up though as they felt their consciousness lingering about in the throne room.  _What's going on? Is it the souls?_ They thought remembering the warning that Flowey gave them. Each container seemed to shine brighter as it felt like the human was being pulled at from six different directions. 

 _No, you can't have_ _me. I'm_ _not done yet. Let me go right now!_ _I said let me go!_ They screamed internally. Asgore shielded his face with one arm as the human proceeded to launch their strongest soul pulse ever from beyond the grave. 

     "What in the world, that's impossi," - Asgore's sentence was interrupted as time came to a stop and once again all color faded away before draining every structure into the human's soul. 

     As they opened their eyes the human peered left and right to see nothing but emptiness all around. Upon sitting up they noticed that the various letters that usually fly around them tended to combine into illegible words. The weight of Asgore's resolve ran deep through their mind upon realizing that it was his voice they heard when they died during the battle with Mettaton. 

 _Was that one of his memories? Who was he talking to at the time? Could it have been his son_ _Asriel_ _? Or m_ _aybe it_ _cou_ _ld've_ _been_ _the first fall_ _en,_ they continued to think.  _I don't want to have to see a lot of monsters die again, but I'm not sure if I have what it takes to stop him by_ _myself_ _,_ they thought while getting their self off of the ground.  _I'll have to try something different,_ they thought as they were sent back across time and space. 

     "Flowey," they said upon noticing him right next them. "Listen, I don't want to see him kill a bunch of monsters in front of us again, so I want you to see if we can convince Sans to be able to delay the horde," they told him. 

     "About that, I'm not sure what happened at the end of the last timeline but something's changed," Flowey responded. 

     "Really? Like what?" They asked. 

     "Well for starters, your soul energy is echoing throughout the entirety of the king's castle for some weird reason, plus I checked the throne room and Asgore is there for real this time," Flowey explained. 

     "Oh, that's definitely a twist. It must've been the souls! I wouldn't have been able to reset as long they trapped me in there with Asgore, but it seems like when I stopped them they each got away with a portion of my soul energy," the human explained. 

     "Well that's just wonderful," Flowey responded. "Oh well, you weren't really using it that much anyway. Let's just hope you still have the power to reset," he said. 

     "Alright, still I'm not sure if I can take him on my own like Sans told me to," they told him. 

     "Ever since the human souls developed a new resonance link, I don't think anyone around here can take on Asgore by their self," Flowey stated. Nonetheless the duo still advanced into the throne room where, to their surprise, they didn't get another round of backstory from the king. 

     "This is definitely a surprise," Asgore said as the duo entered the throne room. "It's been so long since the human souls unleashed enough soul power to almost break me," he continued. "It's odd that your presence exists in this room despite you never having been before but that's impossible. I won't ask you any questions, in fact I feel there's no need to explain myself either," he pulled out his curved sword while finishing his sentence. 

     "Not so fast," Flowey said while conjuring vines out of the garden to bind Asgore's arms. However, it was pointless seeing how Asgore simply cloaked his body in flames to break free. 

     "I'm not sure how you redirected the course for this world's future, but maybe with enough pressure we can get it to happen again," he said while charging at them with his sword raised to head level. 

 _Crap, I'm afraid._ _Both thi_ _s world and the_ _hollow_ _one_ _seemed wonky enough the first time I died in front of the human souls. I don't_ _want to_ _imagine_ _what would happen if thing_ _s carried on like this,_ they thought. Seeing how Asgore's sword was set to arc from left to right, the human sought to get around the swing by heading left. However, Asgore saw this coming and simply countered them by dropping his sword and catching it in his opposite hand mid-run. 

     "There's no escaping human," he said while generating a wall of fire behind them. "With a battle hardened soul you might've warranted a challenge, but as you are now, I eclipse you in both abilities and combat experience," he said while zeroing in on them. 

 _Jeez, did I really come all this way just to be helpless against this guy?_ They thought as Asgore was about to strike.  _Maybe if I faked left before going right? No, he's thought of that already,_ they continued to think. 

     "This- Wait what?" Asgore interrupted himself as a bone flew through the air knocking the sword out of his hand. "Who's there?" He demanded will removing the fire wall. 

     "A bone? Could it be Sa- It is I, the Great Papyrus," Papyrus interrupted. 

     "Papyrus? Did you really come all this way to protect this human? You do realize they're the reason you lost most of your credibility within the Royal Guard. Is this the part where you tell me that you no longer desire power and recognition?" Asgore asked. 

     "Slow down Asgore, there aren't many friends to be made down here, so I'd like to refrain from losing them if at all possible. The rest can be considered later," he said while erecting a wall of bones between Asgore and the human. 

     "Was the choice really that easy for you?" Asgore asked while walking back over to his sword. "Claiming this world won't be possible without combining our connection to magic with their variable potential. Considering how long it takes for opportunities like these to present themselves can you really just push it all aside like that?" He asked once more. 

     "You have more than enough souls to go through the barrier and exact your revenge, but I know you refuse to be denied a perfect victory. You'll just have to deal with it because I won't let this human become apart of that," Papyrus said as his wall of bones crumbled away. 

     "It's no surprise that in our finest hour the loyalty of my subjects is truly being put to the test. Knowing where you stand, will make this that much easier," Asgore said while igniting a flame along the edge of his sword. 

     "Works for me, this rematch was long overdue anyway," Papyrus responded while conjuring his bone staff. He then used one hand to grab the human by the back of their shirt and toss them over his shoulder. 

     "Ow," they said upon hitting the ground.  _Dang it Papyrus, the help is appreciated, but we're at a huge disadvantage right now,_ they thought. 

     "Dead Man's Daggers," Papyrus said while projecting his homing bones at Asgore. A bored sigh came from Asgore as he sliced a few bones out of the sky with his left and batted away a few more with his right. 

     "You're not acclimated to their presence, which is why the speed is slow, the tracking is shaky, and the impact is weak," Asgore explained while letting the last attack break on his armor. 

     "A good trick, but no amount of soul disruption will negate a physical attack," Papyrus said before having his staff glow with red soul energy. He then charged Asgore who raised an eyebrow in response. 

     "You'll face with me with combat skill alone?" Asgore said as his sword clashed with the staff. "You studied under my protege so the difference in our skill should be obvious, or maybe you think I'll be as easy going as the first time," he responded. 

     Papyrus jabbed at Asgore's left side twice before targeting the right with a third strike. Asgore blocked the first two attacks before throwing Papyrus off balance by parrying the third attack off to the right. As he subsequently stumbled forward, Papyrus found himself getting knocked onto his back as Asgore raised an elbow in the path of his skull. 

     "I promote the idea of rising to a challenge as much as the next monster," Asgore said while Papyrus picked himself up. "Though I'm also an advocate of picking your battles wisely," he continued. 

     "Sound logic to follow, but to still want to get rid of this human, means that I can't accept your way any longer," Papyrus responded while rushing Asgore yet again. "So it's more of a now or never kind of thing at this point," he finished. 

     Asgore went for his waist with a slash but Papyrus jumped over it while swinging at Asgore's head. The swing was stopped as Asgore caught the staff in his hand, but Papyrus effectively balanced on top of his own staff before giving Asgore two kicks to the face. He then jumped towards Asgore who tried to grab him despite reeling backwards. 

     "I always train with Undyne," Papyrus said while flying past Asgore at this point. He then placed his hand on Asgore's head before dragging him down mid landing. "But don't ever assume I don't come up with a few tricks of my own," he finished. The king groaned in pain as the back of his head hit the ground first, but after getting up he looked at Papyrus with much more intensity then the human had yet to see. 

     The duo felt helpless as they watched the battle with doubt as to if there was anything they could do to help. While the two seemed to be going back and forth, they felt Asgore was gaining the upper hand despite the conflict now being limited to physical capability. 

     "Enough of this Papyrus, you've proven to be quite the resourceful one but that won't be enough to earn this victory," Asgore responded while knocking Papyrus off of his feet with the flat side of his blade. He then placed one foot to Papyrus's chest while blasting the bone staff away with a fireball. 

     "Papyrus, no!" The human called out but Asgore barred their path with a firewall while deeming their efforts useless. 

     "May your passing serve to inspire a new generation of stronger monsters," Asgore said while raising his sword high. The human was on the verge of tears as they could barely see Papyrus struggling to push the foot aside beyond the flames.  _He came here to help_ _me, i_ _t_ _can't end this way for him,_ they thought. 

     "Behind us," Flowey told them. 

     "What?" The human said while turning around. Before they knew it a blueish-green blur raced past their face before nailing Asgore in the side. Another groan of pain came from the king as he was pushed all the way back into the seat of the throne. 

     "No one is allowed to thrash that bag of bones except me!" A familiar voice shouted. 

     "Oh, thank goodness," the human said with a sigh of relief. 

     "Undyne? You're not really here stand against Asgore, are you?" Papyrus asked. 

     "That's right, how could I not. You told me that you refused to journey with the human when they spent the night with you at Snowdin. Imagine my surprise when you told me you were breaking parole to go to the castle because you thought they were calling for help," she explained. 

     "Right, I know it didn't happen, but I still think I felt something," Papyrus answered while getting up.  _Wait a minute_ _? When the other human souls and I unleashed that burst of energy in the last timeline, could it have echoed throughout the entire underground?_ The human speculated. 

     "Undyne, finally a possible challenge presents itself. To think that the anomalies of this world have even pitted you against me," Asgore said while getting up from the throne.  

     "Tag out Papyrus. Delay any monsters that try to swarm this place while you replenish your soul energy," she said while leaping across the room before landing in front of him. 

     "Don't lose, because I'll be back before you know it," he said while getting up from the ground.  _With Papyrus stepping out, Flowey will be able to protect_ _Undyne_ _should_ _Asgore_ _resort to using Karmic_ _Scale Detonation. Still, I can only hope that she'll have an easier time fighting here then we do,_ the human thought. 

     "You had faith in our cause for the longest, so many opportunities you've had to bring it all to a close. Even now, you could end them and witness all seven souls gather right here, so wh- Don't waste your time," she interrupted. 

     "I always had faith in you despite watching you give up on yourself. You've changed for the worst and I had hoped with our freedom you'd come to back to your senses, but my efforts have clearly been for naught," she said while generating a spear. 

     "For naught? How can you say that after we've done so much to weed out the weak. After you've trained so hard to prove that monsters can be strong enough to earn their place on the surface world," Asgore said. 

     "You're wrong, I was driven to work so hard because I wanted to make you proud, but you're not the same person I offered my loyalty to," she said. 

     "Not the first time I've disappointed unfortunately, your passion is admirable, but I still seek to advance our world to new heights," Asgore said while walking towards her. 

     "Only one thing left to do then," she said while running at him. "You'll forgive yourself someday, but not before I knock some sense into you I bet," she finished. Asgore swung at her as she approached but with a quick slide to his right she dodged the attack before rapidly kicking him from his right leg up to the right of his chest while balancing on her right hand only. 

     "Pointless," Asgore said while slashing at her three times. "You weren't strong enough then, and you aren't strong enough now," he said. Undyne got around the slashes by dodging left and right before air hiking towards Asgore while placing one hand on his head. 

     "You want to bet?" She said while balancing upside down on his head. She then did her signature falling knee strike to his back before pushing off his shoulders so that she could hit him in the back again with a drop kick. "I'll crush any foe with everything I have, including you," she said while running over to Asgore. She then jumped off his back while chaining her Cyan Raindrop attack which he countered by generating a barrier of fire around himself. 

     "You can't draw on the full potential of your soul energy here," he said while readying a huge fireball in his left hand. Meanwhile Undyne air hiked backwards while going right-side up again. 

     "Never doubt my resolve," she said while channeling soul energy into her right hand. 

     "Dread Wind Spiral," she shouted while tossing her attack. 

     "Crimson Cannonball," he shouted back while projecting the fire at her. 

     As the two soul masses clashed with each other, everyone was surprised to see that Undyne's attack was holding up rather well despite being at a disadvantage. However the clash resulted in a tie as both attacks exploded leaving behind a thick cloud of smoke. 

     "You've always been a cut above the rest, but you'll run out of soul energy if you keep pushing yourself that hard," he said while trying to pinpoint her amidst the smoke. 

     "Then I'll have to make sure you break before I do," she said while wrapping her arms around his waist. Everyone bar Undyne had shocked expressions on their face as Undyne presumably got behind Asgore in the blink of an eye with the wind driver boots. "NGAHH!" She shouted while powering against the weight of Asgore's bulk and armor with enough force to suplex him. 

     "Wow, she's definitely holding her own against him, but things will get bad if she can't outlast him," Flowey said. 

     "Aren't you able to help her out with the use of soul pellets?" The human responded. 

     "That won't do, I can't alter bullets types in this room, so she has to completely rely on her soul energy to stay in the battle," he explained. 

     "Well done, you've clearly earned your title as the most physically capable monster in the underground," Asgore said while standing up. "However, I can still match you, in which my victory will be assur- GAAHH!" Asgore went flying as an enormous blue energy beam blasted him into the nearest wall. 

     "The whole bit about human soul suppression, right your majesty? If only there was a way of fighting that didn't strain the vessel," another familiar and surely sarcastic voice said.  

     "Alphys, you're also- Omit the pleasantries please," she said interrupting the human. 

     "That's right darling, we're not out of the woods just yet," Mettaton said while walking in behind Alphys. 

     "Mettaton? You were in pieces when I left you. How'd you get fixed?" They inquired. 

     "Alphys is right there, you're not using your head are you," he responded. 

     "If they were able to use their head, none of you would have to die right now," Asgore said while stepping out of his crater in the wall. "Your betrayal isn't all too surprising Alphys, and I assume Mettaton's story is as simple as preserving his only fan. I wish the Skeleton Squad was present so that I could roast away all the resistance at once," he finished. 

     "I met with the Bone Brigade before coming here, right now the two are holding back the horde. It's not like you don't already have your hands full with us anyway," Alphys said. While aiming the weapon at him once more. 

     "Don't you realize that being here will only slow Undyne down? Such pride you have in these unnecessary inventions, what name did you come up with for this one?" Asgore said. 

     "This is the Crown Stomper Guasslumina, and you'll soon learn that we're not liabilities," she said while passing the weapon over to Mettaton. "Endogeny will cover defense, Metta will strike from range, while Undyne engages in close quarters combat," Alphys ordered. 

     "Undyne is good, but I've taught her everything she knows," Asgore said while readying another Crimson Cannonball. 

     "Just because she learned from you, doesn't mean that she can't become more than you," Alphys stated before moving over to Flowey. Asgore's fireball flew directly at Undyne but Endogeny blocked it by having an extension of itself take the blast in her stead. 

 _This is good_ , w _ith_ _those two covering me I can fight_ _without_ _overexer_ _ting_ _myself_ _,_ Undyne thought. 

     "This is horrible! I appreciate everyone coming through for me, but Karmic Scale Detonation is still a problem! There's no way I could choose to save just one of them!" The human frantically whispered to Flowey. 

     "So we're death bound even if we win, fair enough," Alphys said as she pulled out a mysterious device. Meanwhile Mettaton, who was using two of his arms to hang from the ceiling, kept Asgore on the move by punching several holes into the ground with the Guasslumina. 

     "Shoot, you heard that?" The human responded. 

     "I met up with Sans much earlier than everyone else, and he told me everything he knew about you. While your ability struck me as preposterous, it seemed like the only explanation I'll ever get as to how you circumvented majority of the underground's challenges meant to be impossible at first glance," she explained while retrieving some specs from Flowey. 

     "Oh, I'm sorry you had to be subjected to that unknowingly, or at all for that matter," they responded. "More importantly, how are we going to stop Asgore from wiping us out?" They continued. 

     "I don't think there's anything we can do about Asgore's Karmic attack. All I know is that we're probably not going to make it that far as long as the human souls are an issue," she explained. 

     Meanwhile Undyne closed in on Asgore before kneeing him in the side, but he powered through the attack so that he could trade a punch to the stomach. Mettaton shot off another round of Gausslumina as Undyne was sent flying back which Asgore responded to by bringing a fist to his chest. 

     "That won't do you any good," Mettaton said as Asgore activated his damage absorbing Lordskin. The blast still managed to dole out decent amounts of hurt while pushing Asgore back first into the floor. "This is one of Alphys's oldest beauties, designed specifically to answer your extensive manifestation of soul armor," he said while readying another shot. 

     "Endogeny, fetch!" Alphys ordered. The amalgam then extended a portion of itself into the ground which later popped up next to Asgore before wrapping itself around his leg. After getting tossed in Undyne's direction, the king was met with a flying kick to the stomach that he surprisingly recovered from while sliding back on both feet. 

     "Flame Watcher's Avatar," Asgore said while conjuring two spectral hands and bringing back some bad memories for Flowey and the human. However, Asgore proved to be more proficient with the ability seeing how he managed to pepper both the floor and the ceiling by rapidly projecting explosive fireballs. 

     Mettaton kept swinging along the ceiling while blasting away the fireballs that tried to cut him off. However, the remaining orbs were approaching too fast so his attempts to blast them away caused him to get knocked down by one of the resulting explosions. Undyne's wind drivers kept her ahead of the projectiles but Asgore caught her off guard by blocking an escape using a geyser of flame. 

     "Hang in there," the human said as Undyne went flying backwards again. Endogeny hopped from the back lines before expanding itself like a wall to protect Metta and Undyne, but Asgore's barrage was rather consistent and bits of the amalgam would splatter every which way with each attack. 

     "This isn't good," Alphys said while using her device to retrieve data from the human this time. "Endogeny will get spread too thin it endures too many explosives," she said. 

     "Really? I thought there was no known way of getting rid of it," they responded. 

     "It will survive, but recollection becomes priority when it gets thoroughly divided. In the time it takes for the cells to merge those two will be left unprotected," she explained. 

     "Enough!" Asgore shouted while sheathing his sword, he then reached into the partially worn down Endogeny with both hands. "Twin Eruptions," he said before blowing the amalgam to bits with a combined explosion from each hand. While quick drawing his sword, Asgore closed in on Undyne to strike her across the chest. 

     "I can't say I was looking forward to this," Mettaton said while clashing with Asgore. Similar to the magic tool flame rifle, the Guasslumina utilized a second mode for close combat in which a blue light filled in a plasma field to create a circular saw. "I can't make you drop a grudge, but we'd all live a lot longer if you did," he said while pushing the king back. 

     "Of course we'll live longer lives if we accept rotting away down here, but that's a temporary solution. Our inability to sustain monster kind was slightly offset by their tendency to eliminate each other," he responded while fighting off both Mettaton and Undyne. 

     "You're joking right? How can you comfortably watch everyone tear each other apart and be convinced you're immortalizing monster kind?" Flowey said. Asgore ducked under a kick from Undyne before pushing her away with one hand. He then parried Mettaton's saw to the left while moving right before slicing low then upward with his sword to remove Mettaton's left leg as well as both left arms. 

     "Say what you will, but it doesn't change the fact that compassion and morality couldn't bridge the gap in power they had over us," he said while hitting Undyne with a hand explosion during one of her wind driver glides. 

     "Come on, this is taking way too long," Alphys said as her device continued to download schematics from performing scans on the human. Meanwhile Undyne was rebounding from the explosion she just took but Asgore wasted no time closing the distance with several strikes to wear her out even more. 

     "I'll acknowledge the fact that you all are a force when brought together," he said as he managed to catch Undyne by the neck before lifting her off the ground with one hand. "However, to what extent are you all truly working towards the same thing?" He asked. Meanwhile Mettaton was crawling towards the Gausslumina which fell and slid across the throne room floor when he lost his balance and Endogeny was slowly recollecting despite being in an unknown number of pieces. 

     "I'll bring... you back," she strained herself to say. 

     "I see, but the human is the only one who shares that goal with you. Alphys and Mettaton clearly agree that I'm better off dead. You were prepared for that, right? If I could count on anyone to make the necessary changes in the event of my death, obviously, you wouldn't disappoint, right?" He said. 

     "Hey, you're forgetting all about Flowey," the human said. "He agrees that this can end without anyone dying, right Flowey?" They said while looking at him but he didn't meet their gaze in return. 

     "Sorry, if I'm being honest, I do think that we'd be better off without him," Flowey responded. 

     "Seriously!" The human snapped at him. 

     "They all know how much this means to you, so what do you have to say knowing that they're not on your side?" Asgore said. 

     "I'm...sorry," she said at which point Asgore slightly loosened his grip on her. 

     "Understandable, betrayal is a concept that I know all too well. It had cost me my respect and freedom, eventually it would lead to me losing all of my family as well," he continued. 

     "But I was still there," she responded. 

     "What?" He responded. Suddenly Asgore stumbled backwards as Undyne kneed him in the chin allowing her to slip out of his grip. "Sorry dad," she said while punching him square in the face. "But you've really messed up," she said while making both of her hands glow with soul energy. "Cyan... Moonflower... Beam!" She shouted while projecting an enormous blast of soul energy from her hands. 

     "You still had that much left?" Asgore said while activating his Lordskin. To further mitigate the attack, he also channeled his own soul energy into the sword while blocking. Despite holding on for about six seconds, Asgore's defenses were eventually broken as the attack shattered the blade of his sword before overpowering his Lordskin. 

 _Not yet,_ Undyne thought as she fell to both knees. While she refused to quit, there was no helping the fact that her soul power was nearly empty. Meanwhile Mettaton had retrieved the Gausslumina and readied it despite only having two right arms. 

     "Do it Mettaton!" Alphys shouted. 

     "No, don't kill him!" Undyne disagreed. 

     "Now's our best chance!" Alphys urged him. 

     "We can try something else!" The human tried to dissuade. 

     "Screw it, I'm taking the shot," he said while taking aim. 

     "No!" Undyne shouted as the trigger was pulled. 

     "Barrier Bud!" Flowey shouted. Everyone was awestruck as an enormous flower appeared beneath Asgore before reversing its blooming process on him. As the shell absorbed the blast from the Gausslumina, there was a moment of silence as the petals faded away while healing Asgore. 

     "Great, looks like it's back to plan A," Dr. Alphys said with a sigh. Still, witnessing Undyne push herself to act independently from Asgore was enough to make her smile. 

     "Why?" Asgore asked while slowly getting back on his feet. 

     "I've considered how much better off we'd be if we were to get rid of you. However, I've thought about everything the human has done to get this far, and how just about everyone in this room probably wouldn't have come here if it weren't for them. So while I did disagree with them, it doesn't change the fact that I'll support them here and now just as Undyne has always tried to support you," he explained. 

     "That's right Asgore, fear has ruled the underground for too long," Undyne said while barely getting back onto both feet. She then walked past him over to the throne before picking up the trident and walking back. Asgore stared on in surprise as she stuck the trident in the ground next to him. 

     "You told me that you cried tears of joy the day you earned this. You told me that you found your son playing with it almost everyday. I doubt he'd want you to let go of all that, so why can't you bring yourself to look at it anymore!" She yelled. 

     "That no longer belongs to me," Asgore said. "There's no one left in the royal family that's capable of fulfilling the promises that come with the inheritance. From where I'm standing, that trident has no future," he said while standing up yet again. 

     As Undyne proceeded to talk with Asgore, Alphys gave a small celebratory gesture as she finished collecting data from the human. She then leaned towards a small lump of Endogeny, which was still in the process of regathering before saying the number seven. The lump wiggled around a bit before releasing another gadget from within itself. As Alphys proceeded to alter multiple switches and knobs on the device, the human couldn't help but wonder what she had in store that would require her to scan them and Flowey. 

     "You said this is plan A right? Does that mean killing Asgore wasn't the first course of action you were going for?" They asked her. 

     "Correct, I honestly feel that our first course of action is much more unlikely, but if it works then it'll be quite a sight to behold," she answered. 

     "So what is this?" They asked. 

     "This is the Harmonic Encapsulator," she answered. 

     "That sounds familiar," Flowey said. 

     "It's actually an original invention built by Mettaton and also the first ever attempt at removing a soul from a living entity, which we came to find out was very difficult. While the idea is definitely revolutionary, I don't prefer to look at it seeing how in the initial testing phases he almost killed me with it," she explained. 

     "Huh, what did you get from us just then?" They asked. Meanwhile Mettaton was in the middle of gathering his severed limbs. 

     "Your data provided the basis in which a human soul exists as a unique non-physical entity in the human body. Flowey's data clarified the nature in which a soulless being have a "blank" magic signature, has the best chance of housing human souls in its vessel without having to acclimate itself to them. If this goes well, the flower could absorb the human souls without breaking down, meaning Asgore's advantage over us will be removed," she finished. 

     "Enough," Asgore told Undyne. "I'll crush you all with my own hands before I pick up that trident again," he continued. 

     "I have retur- You guys aren't going to believe what just happened out there," Sans said while interrupting his brother and simultaneously startling the human. 

     "Really Sans, couldn't you have used the door just like everyone else?" The human complained. 

     "Are you kidding me? I've had to keep several waves of the monster horde at bay, and not being able to kill anyone didn't make it any easier," he responded. 

     "Quit the complaining Sans, you act as if you were the only one out there," Papyrus chimed in. 

     "What happened with the horde anyway?" Alphys asked him. 

     "Right, like I was saying- Finally, now that you two are here I can tie up all the loose ends. Flame Watcher's Persona!" He shouted while cloaking his body in flame. Not too long afterwards his infernal goat flame incarnation roared to life just like last time. 

     "This doesn't look good," the human said. "Sans, you've fought Asgore before right? How do we deal with this?" They asked. 

     "Not sure, this is completely new. He must've been saving a surprise for you. He's never tried to kill me in front of the human souls before either, and I'm pretty beat having dealt with the horde," he said. Meanwhile Endogeny had finally pulled itself together while Mettaton managed to crawl back to Alphys. 

     "Most of you had to have considered standing against me at some point," Asgore said as his persona started to slowly trot around the throne room in a large circle. Endogeny carried Mettaton and his parts to the center where everyone gathered with their backs to each other. 

     "Endogeny, fix," Alphys said. Endogeny then spewed out two spare arms and a leg which it used to slowly repair Mettaton while Alphys devoted her attention the Harmonic Encapsulator. 

     "I knew the time would come when I'd have to reduce you all to ash," Asgore continued as he left them in a small circle amidst a lake of fire. "Never would I have guessed that they'd be burning to death with you," he finished. The human was positive that the persona's head turned to look at them as he finished his sentence. 

     "If this is the challenge that comes with advancing our future then I'll continue to destroy any monster or human as need be," he said. Meanwhile the persona placed both crimson hooves forward while slouching over. "May you live on in the history of a new generation of stronger monsters," he said while initiating the charge. 

 _Oh no, not this again,_ the human thought as the blazing horns of his persona was something they had hoped to forget. To their surprise, they were spared a brutal death as Asgore's charge came to an abrupt halt as if it was met with an invisible wall. 

     "How in the world?" Asgore wondered as his persona fell over. "You can't repel my fire, so who could've done that?" He said while the persona made it's way back onto all four hooves. 

     "It's been so long since I've been here. You use to make sure this place was absolutely beautiful," a familiar voice said. 

     "There's no way," Asgore said as he and everyone else in the room brought their eyes to the door. The flames suddenly died out instantly as the human's face lit up upon recognizing their savior. 

     "Toriel!" They said while running towards her. As Asgore stood by in disbelief, Toriel greeted the human with open arms while everyone else was speechless as they shared a hug. 

     "Yeah, I was trying to get around to that, but I kept getting cut off," Sans said with a shrug. "Paps and I were holding back the horde, but everyone stopped fighting and opened a path the moment she came running through," he explained. 

     "Tori," Asgore said. 

     "Don't Tori me Asgore! I haven't left the ruins in a very long time, but I can honestly say that I came back to a nightmare. How much more will you sacrifice before you finally lay this vendetta to rest!" She yelled. 

     "As many as it takes to reclaim everything that was stolen from us!" He yelled back. 

     "This way," Alphys said while prompting everyone to move to one side of the room. "Good thing she's here, everyone's just about exhausted their resources, and we still need more time to calibrate the Harmonic Encapsulator," she explained. 

     "I won't let you kill any more children Asgore. These atrocities must come to an end," she said. She then channeled soul energy into her feet before hovering off the ground a moment later.  _Woah, I don't remember her being able to do that before. The fact that the royal family is able to function_ _around the human souls so easily is rather pecu_ _liar as well,_ the human thought. 

     "Then you're in the way," he responded. He then charged at Toriel who tried to extinguish his flames by force but couldn't. Instead, she flew in and around the legs of the goat before shooting a fireball into the back of its left hind leg. The explosion nearly staggered it but it resisted enough of the force to maintain its balance while regenerating the soul energy in that area. 

     "Why am I the one who's in the wrong, anyway?" He said while turning his persona around. Suddenly both of its horns grew extremely long while angling backwards to the point of piercing the ground. Quickly turning its head to the left then right caused each horn to scrape the ground while sending out a trail of flame pillars in Toriel's direction. 

     "Every child that fell down here was innocent. There was no point in killing them when they did nothing wrong," she said while casting her version of Flame Watcher's Avatar on him. The goat's horns grew even longer and curved even further to the point that Asgore was able to block the projectiles by having the goat tilt its head from one side to the next. 

     "I see how murder was an issue for you, but the actions of humanity are still beyond redemption. We called the surface home as well, and they erased us from history," he said while racing towards Toriel. At the same time the horns retracted a good amount before protruding forward at the risk of skewering anything in their path. 

     "I accept my misdeeds in slaying the human children, but humanity still banished us and even placed the fear of monsters into the hearts of the younger humans. As if the pain caused by the barrier was not enough," he said while attacking Toriel with the horns and several homing flame darts. 

     "We weren't supposed to live on, that's why instead of leaving the ground to monster kind, they chose to trap us all in a bubble around what's certainly not the biggest mountain. They inhabit an entire world while one spot that can't even be seen is all they leave for us, yet you still see me as the greater evil?" He shouted as Toriel maneuvered her Cyclonic Blaze through the air to cut off the darts. 

     "That doesn't make what you've done ok, and you should stop before you end up with anymore victims," she responded. 

     "You can't bring yourself to understand how necessary this all is," he said while forcing her towards a wall. He then performed another flame charge which she dodged by flying just above the head which pierced the wall with its horns. "Beacon Amidst Inferno," he said while pulling his horns out of the wall. Toriel looked down in surprise as soul energy began to swell in a circle around the goat. A bright red light fired into the sky shortly afterwards which she barely managed to fight against by releasing a focused flame magic laser. 

     "I'm nearly there," Alphys said as the calibration of the Harmonic Encapsulator was nearly over. 

     "Please hurry," Flowey responded as Asgore's beacon overpowered Toriel's attack before knocking her into the ceiling. He then turned his persona around and walked away as she fell before knocking her into the wall with a whip of the tail. 

     "Give them to me, and just this once, I'll excuse you all for your illogical behavior," he said while putting some distance between him and Toriel. 

     "Never, I don't seek your forgiveness," she responded. Meanwhile Asgore turned his persona back in her direction yet again. 

     "Funny, I couldn't have said it better myself," he said while charging her yet again. In response Toriel peeled one arm out of the wall before summoning an enormous spectral hand to catch him mid-charge. Lots of worry was coming from the group as she struggled to push back the goat that appeared to be running on air as the charge continued. 

 _Come on, we've come all this way. She's not going to make it by herself but everyone is either busy or drained. It can't end this way for her, it just can't!_ The human shouted in their head. Afterwards they were left completely awestruck as for a brief moment time had stopped around them before resuming again. 

     "It's finished," Alphys said before the human could even question what just happened to them. "Mettaton break open those containers," she ordered. Endogeny had only managed to attach a new leg to Mettaton between all of their moving around, but that didn't stop him from taking out all six containers using three shots of the Gausslumina. 

     "Man, these things are even more bothersome outside of their cases," Sans said as he found himself more exhausted than ever. Asgore and Toriel were both affected by them as well but while Toriel's resistance ebbed a bit, Asgore actually brought himself even closer to running through her. 

     "Get Flowey over to the souls now, if he can absorb and suppress enough of their energy everyone should be able to function long enough to help her," she said. The human complied and took off towards the throne. Flowey slid from down their neck before wrapping himself around their left arm as they knelt next to the throne. 

     "I'm counting on you," they told him as he proceeded to take each soul into his body. Suddenly a bright light emanated from him, forcing the human to shield their eyes with their right hand. 

     "Now's your chance," Sans said while using his soul seizing effect to assist Toriel in pushing back Asgore. 

     "Alright, but I can still feel the effects of the human souls, albeit slightly weaker," Undyne responded. 

     "Something's... not right," Flowey said before shouting in pain. "I can't stabilize them," he continued. 

     "We'll just have to power through it," Papyrus responded while launching several explosive bone darts into Asgore's persona. 

     "I'm going to remove one," Alphys said while making her way towards them with the Harmonic Encapsulator. "They can easily power through one as long as you can quiet the other five," she explained. Meanwhile everyone was hitting Asgore with everything they had. 

     "Don't do it!" Flowey told Alphys. 

     "What do you mean Flowey?" The human asked. 

     "Don't remove them, it's not like that. In fact, it feels like there's something missing," he explained. 

     "Missing? What should we do instead?" Alphys questioned. 

     "Don't worry about me, just keep at it. I'll do my best to stop these things," he said. 

     "Alright, don't disappoint," she said while pulling out her magic tool revolver. As all the bone darts, cyan spears, bullet barks, and magi technical weaponry united against Asgore, his fiery embodiment was slowly getting pushed back. With enough resolve Flowey managed to dampen the effects of the souls even more allowing everyone's assault to force Asgore back fast enough to knock him back into a wall. 

     "It's... over... Asgore," Toriel said with ragged breathing. As his persona exploded, Asgore's shroud of flame faded from his body revealing a multitude of cracks freshly made in his armor. With little to no strength left, he pushed himself off the wall to hit the ground before raising himself to one knee. 

     "You'll never... be able to give them... the world," he said while closing his eyes. "Karmic Scale Detonation!" A chill ran down the human's spine as a well of soul energy, which seemed to appear out of thin air, came gushing forth.  _There's no way_ _he could've still had the power to use it,_  they thought as their worst fear came to be realized.  

     "We never found the answer," Alphys said as the soul energy peaked in density. 

     "He was and wasn't in the room," Flowey said randomly. 

     "What do you mean?" The human questioned. 

     "Emptying your vessel of its soul energy is the first step," Flowey said. "That's why this went on for so long, he always saved one just in case it came down to this," he explained. "I still have the karmic shell. Using that you can save someone," he finished. 

     "No, I could never bring myself to choose just one of them," the human responded. 

     "I see, I don't think you want to watch what happens next then," Alphys chimed in. Immediately afterwards a white light emerged from Asgore's body before quickly expanding throughout the entire room. With the bulk of their abilities still negated, there was no way for the team to escape or defend their selves. 

     "We did the best we could," Sans told the human. "Our choices just couldn't bring about a way to avoid this outcome. It's not like we could've made a path of our own," he said as everyone standing behind him started to vanish into the light. "Such choices obviously won't happen without taking a lot of risk." The human shielded their eyes again as Sans finished his sentence before vanishing as well. 

     "It's all over," Flowey said as the light had finally cleared itself from the room. As their eyes readjusted, the human looked around to see the dust of all their friends strewn about save for Mettaton and Endogeny who each managed to litter the room with their pieces for a second time. 

     "They came here knowing they could lose everything," Flowey said. "We only got this far because of them," he continued. "Look around, twice you've had the chance to claim a key through the barrier," he finished. The human fell to their knees as they noticed that two soul masses resembling inverted hearts floated on opposite sides of the room. One above the pieces of Asgore's shattered armor, and the other above the Toriel tattered robe. 

     "There has to be something I can do," the human said while hitting one fist against the ground. 

     "That's a good question, Sans was more than convinced that having everyone survive a battle with Asgore wasn't possible," Flowey stated. "No one's trying to kill you now, and the barrier is just pass the door behind the throne. I doubt you're going to take this chance, so how do you plan on bringing about another reset?" He asked causing them to take a brief pause. 

     "You're going to have to do it," they told him. 

     "What?" He asked. 

     "I know it's crazy, but I need you to shoot me. Not like the other times either, I know you can make projectiles that can hurt humans," they told him. 

     "No way, what would you even do when you reset anyway?" He asked. 

     "Trust me Flowey, I know you don't want to do this, and you're probably not going to like what I do next, but if I pull this off everyone will be able to see this through to the end," they said. Flowey met them with a look of both confusion and outrage. 

     "I can't believe this," he said. 

     "You have to Flowey. Just as they gave up everything to help me, there's nothing I wouldn't try to save them," they said. A moment of silence passed before Flowey finally agreed before reluctantly generating a soul bullet. 

     "Just another reset I really wish I could forget," he said as they closed their eyes. For a moment they waited for the bullet to make contact, but for some reason it never came. Even weirder to them was the fact that the room got very hot while they could feel something around their neck. 

     "It's finished, Mettaton break open those containers," Alphys ordered. The human opened their eyes in surprise to find themselves back at the exact moment in which Alphys completed her calibrations of the Harmonic Encapsulator. 

     "What in the world, I can't remember for some reason. You must've done something, but it's not like before. To go back somewhere without a soul anchor, you had to have loaded some sort of save state, but you can't make those, can you?" Flowey wondered. 

     "Get Flowey over to the souls now, if he can absorb and suppress enough of their energy everyone should be able to function long enough to help her," she said. 

     "It won't work," the human told her before grabbing her by the arm and running towards the souls. 

     "What? Why not?" She responded. 

     "No time to explain, go ahead and take them Flowey," they told him while holding out one hand. 

     "I don't know what happened before, but what are you going to do this time?" He asked while taking the human souls into his body, but shortly afterwards he started to scream in pain like last time as the souls weren't cooperating. "They're not stabilizing," he said. 

     "I thought this might happen. I'm going to remove one, so try to suppress the rest," she said while pointing the Harmonic Encapsulator at Flowey. 

     "No, it's not enough," the human told her while placing a hand on the device. They then turned the device on their self causing Alphys to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Give him the soul, I can make up for what's missing," they told her. Meanwhile Toriel was still struggling very hard to push Asgore back. 

     "Alright," Alphys responded. 

     "What! But- Quiet, they obviously know more than us," she interrupted Flowey before pulling the trigger. Immense pain ran through the human's body as they started to feel weightless and their vision was suddenly limited to black, white, and everything in between. As Alphys pulled the device away from their chest, the link they had with their body was broken. Immediately afterwards she shoved their soul into Flowey at which point their mind had went dormant. 

     "I can feel the power returning," Undyne said as the burden of the souls seemed to vanish. 

     "All right everyone, it's time to hit him with everything we got," Papyrus said. 

     "All of you stop," an unknown voice had said. Meanwhile Toriel was still struggling to hold back Asgore's charge despite having her abilities unhinged seeing how she's used too much up to now. 

     "I can't... hold it!" She yelled as the head of the persona was getting pretty close to ramming her. 

     "Just let go, you've earned some rest. I'll take it from here," the mystery being told her. Suddenly Asgore's persona slowly came to a halt as the flaming soul energy began to shrink until a kneeling Asgore had took its place. The mystery being was another goat monster that wore a caster style robe like Toriel but had notably larger horns than her like Asgore. 

     "Who is that?" Undyne asked as Toriel's savior helped her down from her hole in the wall. Her question was met with silence as everyone stared on until Toriel was the first to speak. 

     "It's you, isn't it?" She said while placing her hands on each of the new monster's shoulders. "You look older, but there's no mistaking the resemblance," she finished. "Such a horrible twist of fate. I wanted to remember you, but being a part of the flower meant I nearly destroyed you instead," she said while hanging her head in regret. 

     "Don't worry about all that. I can remember everything from before and after I became a flower now. My name is Asriel and I forgive you for what you did to hold on to those memories," he said while sharing a hug with her. 

     "Impossible, my son is long gone. There's no way he could be here right now," Asgore said before breathing heavily. 

     "I know that you're already aware of my remains being used to make the flower," Asriel while turning back to Asgore. 

     "He does?" Alphys asked. 

     "I do, but how do you know that?" Asgore responded. 

     "It's not important, what matters now is you putting a stop to all this fighting," Asriel said. 

     "No, if you'd rather live here than take the fight to them, then I'll make you all disappear. Karmic Scale Detonation!" He yelled while tapping into a well of soul energy. Meanwhile Asriel materialized wings of soul energy before carrying Toriel over to the rest of the gang. 

     "I'm not going to sit by and watch you hurt yourself," he said while turning back to Asgore. "Gift of the Spirit," he said while raising one hand in Asgore's direction. Suddenly flower petals began to rain down on Asgore, healing him and restoring a portion of his soul energy at the same time. "Goner Well," Asriel said while pointing a finger at the blast. Suddenly a small sphere of unfamiliar soul energy appeared in front of Asriel before taking in every bit of Asgore's karmic attack like a black hole.  

     "No one will benefit from working with humans. Asriel's death was proof that their hatred will be passed down until they all burn," Asgore said while using his version of Flame Watcher's Avatar. 

     "You still won't accept me?" Asriel said while countering the fireballs by projecting a multitude of star clusters. "I guess it shouldn't be too surprising with me looking like this," he said while walking towards the throne. "I wanted to see what it would've been like had I got the chance to grow up, but I'm not afraid to show my original face," he said before snapping his fingers. Immediately a flash of light impeded everyone's vision for a brief moment as Asriel appeared to transform in an instant. 

     "Stop it, he's dead," Asgore said as Asriel took on his true form. The goat monster child was rather small with no horns on his head, and wore a green shirt with yellow stripes and black pants. 

     "I did die, and I wasn't properly brought back, but I am here now," he said while using one hand to reach for the trident that was still stuck in the ground. 

     "Don't touch that!" Asgore shouted while racing towards him. He then plucked the trident from the ground before swinging at Asriel who backed away while shifting back into his more combat suitable form. "You will suffer for trying to tarnish his memory," Asgore said while tapping the blunt end of the trident on the ground, which prompted fountains of flames to rise up from the floor. 

     "You're doing it," Asriel smiled while floating away. He then conjured two blades to block a swing from the trident before parrying the thrust attack Asgore followed up with. Asriel floated backwards a bit more while pointing a finger at the trident in Asgore's hand. "If you can bring yourself to wield it again, then you can remember how you always had faith in them," Asriel continued. 

     "Am I supposed to assume that they're about to come back as well? Get real, both of you are lost to this world," Asgore responded. 

     "So you are starting to accept me," Asriel said. 

     "Silence!" Asgore said while doing a charge thrust with the trident. Focused soul energy at the end of the trident increased the range of its sharpness allowing Asgore to slice a part of Asriel's robe as he dodged to one side. 

     "You remember carrying us to bed all those times we fell asleep in the living room right?" Asriel asked. 

     "I said be quiet!" Asgore shouted while swinging the trident back around. Asriel backed away but Asgore immediately jumped at him to plunge downward with the trident. While his plunge missed, a burst of fire was released simultaneously which Asriel decided to take without putting up any resistance. Asgore then coated the trident in flame before throwing it at Asriel, who chose to take the explosion without fighting back. Upon holding a hand out in front of himself, the trident Asgore just threw instantly reappeared in his grasp. 

     "The first time they celebrated mom's birthday with us. She walked in to see us yell happy birthday while standing under our home made banner. You had one of us sit on each of your shoulders at the time. She took so much delight in the scene that she made us wait while she looked around for the camera. Asgore paused for a moment while Toriel was smiling despite tears streaming down her face. Asriel then reached down the neck of his robe before pulling out a locket that was shaped like a heart. 

     "The anniversary," Asgore said as Asriel opened the locket. 

     "That's right. They weren't able to remember when they were born ever since they fell into the mountain, so each year we'd celebrate the day we found them instead," Asriel said while turning the picture in the locket towards Asgore. 

     "You remember Chara, don't you dad? They always told me that falling down the mountain wasn't so bad, because while they vaguely remembered what they lost, they couldn't help but feel that they were given so much more," he said while walking towards Asgore. "They had wonderful memories of this place, and they won't get another chance to see it. I won't stay like this for long either, so right the wrongs now. That way Chara can rest in peace knowing the underground is as great as they remember it," he finished. 

     "It's too late," he said while swinging the trident at Asriel. In an instant Asriel reverted back to his original form getting him out of the way of the trident and close enough to hug Asgore. 

     "It's never too late," he said while Asgore contemplated whether or not to attack or hug him back. Undyne started walking over to them and everyone else shortly followed. 

     "Give it a rest big guy. The world is changing, and I don't want you to miss out," Undyne said. 

     "That's right, put a stop to this. You don't have to become the monster humanity made you out to be," Alphys said. 

     "Listen to her your majesty. It's too soon for us to have our last dance," Mettaton said. 

     "Don't let him down Asgore. You of all- Family is important nyeh heh," Papyrus said interrupting Sans this time. 

     "You always promised Chara that this place would change for the better. All of us want to see you honor those memories," Toriel told him. Asgore's hands were shaking at the moment but eventually he had dropped the trident at which point the rest of the gang shared in an emotional group hug that fully brought him to tears. 

     "It's almost time for me to go, but there's a few things I have to do first," Asriel said while breaking away from the group. Shortly afterwards he released a soul pulse of nearly infinite range that seemed to expand until reaching beyond the entire underground. Soon afterwards there was nothing but silence as Asriel bade everyone farewell. 

     Amongst a dark and empty plane, a consciousness was forming. While nothing seemed to exist or be seen, there was a familiar sound going on all around. Suddenly an image appeared within the plane, depicting a person laid out face first amidst bed of flowers. A small goat monster slowly came to their aid, in which another image was soon generated where they both were holding flowers while taking a picture together before everything faded to black. As the consciousness fully formed the plane of dark split open where various colors and strange figures seemed to be staring back. 

     "What happened?" The human asked as they sat up from the floor while rubbing their head with one hand. Asgore slowly walked up to them before holding one hand out in their direction. 

     "We were finally able to reach out to Asgore thanks to Flowey, uh I mean Asriel's hard work," Undyne said. 

     "It's cool, you can call me Flowey. If I'm to be honest with myself I'm definitely not the same monster that walked through the barrier that day," he responded.  _Flowey is_ _Asriel_ _? Does that mean_ _Alphys_ _did and didn't succee_ _d?_ The human thought. 

     "Human, please accept my apologies for all the hostility I've given you and those you care about," he said. They simply smiled back before grabbing his hand. 

     "It's ok, all that matters is that you answered them when they called out to you," they said as Asgore pulled them up. I got a few questions though, like how did you guys sustain me while Flowey had my soul?" They asked. 

     "I could explain how, but aside from you not understanding why, you'd probably just be grossed out," Alpyhs responded. 

     "Come on, it can't be that crazy," they said but Alphys just let out a sigh of annoyance. 

     "I stuck you inside of Endogeny," she said. Instantly the human looked at Endogeny with a freaked out expression while the amalgam gave them a faceless gaze in return. 

     "I'll stop asking questions now," the human said. 

     "Details aside, the barrier is broken now, but it probably won't be a good idea to have everyone leave unless they can bottle their hostility which probably won't happen until the air is cleared with Asgore," Toriel stated. 

     "He's about to get his chance very soon, because unless my motion sensors deceive me, another performance is just around the corner," Mettaton said. Right on cue everyone could hear a stampede slowly but surely advancing in their direction. The monsters stopped upon noticing the group all clustered in the center of the throne room, 

     "There he is, it's the king!" One monster said. 

     "We have to get through him if we want to get out," a second said. 

     "Are you crazy! He has two Royal Guard members, the mutant mad scientist, and the dance obsessed killer robot at his back!" A third panicked. 

     "What's with all the wild cards in the room though?" Another questioned. 

     "I think one of them is a human," the next speculated. 

     "A human is alive and the barrier is broken? Impossible," another one stated. Asgore proceeded to walk towards the mob as their chatter started to blur together. 

     "Here he comes!" A monster shouted as Asgore approached. Everyone got highly defensive as he neared until they saw him raise one hand in their direction. 

     "Everyone, stop right now please. I'm probably the last person who should be telling you to restrain yourselves, but hear me out," he said. 

     "Stop? Really? A bunch of angry monsters storming their way onto the surface, is that not what you've been asking for?" Another monster responded. 

     "All of you have been through a lot because of me, and I'm sure that each of you stood to lose something whether or not you followed the guidelines I was rather foolish to set for you all," he said. "I apologize for all the transgressions I've made against you all because it even took a loss at the hands of my friends and family to bring me back to my senses," he finished. 

     "That's right, monster kind doesn't need to hurt itself anymore. While his actions were cruel and unnecessary, I ask you all to find it in yourselves to forgive him in hopes of making a less dangerous future for us," Toriel said. 

     "Who is that? I've never seen her before," a monster said. 

     "Don't know, but she does where that symbol from the one prophecy on her robe," the next one replied. 

     "Imbeciles, you've all lost touch with your history. Obviously, she's the queen of monsters who disappeared around the time Asgore turned full tyrant," another monster corrected. 

     "Queen? As in the lady of the royal family? What kind of crap is this? You get to see the people you love again and we're suddenly expected to forgive you despite losing ours? As if, get him, get all of them!" A monster shouted. Everyone was about to gear up to fend them off when Asgore held one hand in their direction signaling them to stop.  _Sans warned me about this. In the case that I did bring_ _Asgore_ _back to his usual self he'd wind up dead if he didn't fight back against a swarm of monsters,_ the human thought. 

     "This is definitely something that I deserve," Asgore said as they started to close in on them. "However, hurting them was never an option! Flame Watcher's Persona!" He shouted. The mob was struck with fear as Asgore's enormous flame roared to life before assuming the form of a giant goat again. He then grew the horns while angling them backwards so the tips pierced the ground. Flame pillars walled off the monsters as he scraped the ground with the horns by turning its head from one side to the next. 

     "What in the world!" A monster panicked. 

     "That thing's massive!" Another one noted. 

     "I've accepted the faults in the things that I've done, but if you expect me to pay you in dust then you'll be highly disappointed," he said while slowly trotting towards the mob with his persona. "You don't have to like me, and I'm sure most of you are convinced that you'll never forgive me. However, you're not doing this for me, you're doing this for them," he said while removing the firewall between the mob and his friends.  

     "These monsters and that human are the only reason this is even an option, so get your act together because if any of them come under harm, it will be your dust paying the bill," he said while dispelling his persona. "It's up to you to decide if anyone else has to die today, so do you accept my apology or not?" He finished. Silence fills the throne room for a moment until a response breaks out from the crowd. 

     "I forgive you Asgore," a random monster said. 

     "Seriously? After all he's done?" Another one questioned. 

     "I forgive him as well," a third said. 

     "But think about all the fighting he's caused!" The next one complained. 

     "I was never a big fighter, I joined in on all of this hoping my family wouldn't have to be on the run anymore, and this is probably the best outcome I could've hoped for," yet another one had confessed. 

     "I get that, fighting Asgore was not my first decision after hearing how all the other attacks went. I'm down for this if it means those still with us won't have to lose anyone else," a monster replied. 

     "Why would anyone who's not trying to fight join a mob that's about to attack the king?" Another asked. 

     "I don't blame him, anyone who wasn't already in hiding when you guys rolled around got crushed if they didn't join in. The only thing missing was a flag that said submit or die on it," the next one stated. 

     "You know who also went submit or die on us? Asgore! Which is why he shouldn't be let off the hook," another one griped. 

     "You still want to fight knowing that at any moment he can turn into a volcano on hooves?" The next one tried to reason. 

     Eventually the mob broke out into an argument until Toriel finally stepped in to talk them down. 

     "Everyone stop, Asgore will be held accountable for his actions, but no lethal resolutions will be tolerated," she said. "If any of you want to escape the loop of hatred we've trapped ourselves in, then you have to stop being bound by the past," she finished. Undyne then picked up the trident before walking over to Asgore and plunging the sharp end into the ground next to him. 

     "Listen up everyone, all of you are aware that the underground's become a very hostile place, and that has to change. For the longest this trident which serves as a symbol of trust between monsters hasn't been used in years, because our king acknowledged his misdeeds towards his own people and accepted that he failed to uphold the obligations that came with inheritance," she said. 

     "We know he messed up. We know that he knows he messed up, so what are you getting at?" A random monster asked. 

     "I'm asking if anyone wants to clean up the big guy's mess. The amount of work that comes with turning this world around is pretty strenuous so if you think you can do better than go ahead, but I still entrust my future to Asgore so having made this mess means he should be fixing it himself," she said. A lot of chatter came from the audience as they expressed their opinions of Undyne's speech amidst each other. 

     "I've been detached from Asgore as well as the kingdom for quite some time which doesn't give me much credibility as member of the royal family," Toriel said. "However, I believe that with a second chance, Asgore can one day return to being the considerate and inspiring king fluffy buns we all entrusted our futures to," she finished. Suddenly the entire mob as well as the human and friends burst into laughter. Toriel also started laughing upon realizing what she just said. 

     "What do you say everyone? Who wants the return of king fluffybuns?" Undyne asked the crowd. Everyone went silent as they went back to contemplating until someone broke the silence by building up from a slow clap. 

     "Flu....ffy, flu...ffy, flu..ffy, fluffy, fluffy," the crowd started to cheer. Asgore was certainly on the verge of being embarrassed to death but he couldn't help but smile at the silliness of it all. Eventually the crowd flooded into the room as Asgore welcomed them before lifting him and everyone else off their feet while the rest clapped and cheered all around. 

 _Completely amazing,_ the human thought as they were getting tossed into the air by the crowd.  _So_ _many smiling faces, I can't believe they were frightened and furious at first,_ they continued to think. There was no describing the joy they felt the day they managed to patch things up between Toriel and all the monsters in the ruins, so recreating a similar situation on the scale of the entire underground seemed like a dream. 

     "I can't believe you managed to pull this off," Flowey said. "We were in an impossible situation but the bonds you made came through for us in the end," he continued. 

     "Did you say something?" The human responded but the noise of the crowd ruined any chance of communicating right now, so Flowey simply shook his head no. The celebration eventually wound down about half an hour later, where Asgore gave thanks to everyone once more before they left for the day. 

     Four days had passed since the altercation in the throne room. The human along with their friends spent the first two days spreading the word of Asgore's re-inauguration as well as handing out electronic pamphlets, constructed by Alphys, that effectively displayed a pre-recorded hologram message of Asgore expressing his sincerest apologies while extending his invitation to the event. 

     On the third day Asgore considered the job finished giving everyone some time off. The gang used the third and fourth days to hang out and enjoy a less stressful way of living together. At Alphys's place they came across a dance party assembled by none other than Mettaton who, with the help of Asgore, finally managed to replicate well tasting human food for the gang to enjoy when they weren't mingling. After the dancing was done they all lounged around while watching the most recent of motion animated films Alphys found discarded from the world above. 

     When it came to hanging out at Undyne's place, the group was immersed in the musical talent she provided with her piano skills while Papyrus assisted in resurrecting Toriel's culinary prowess. Asgore was taking it easy as well knowing he had finished his preparations, so he also joined in on the celebrations even adding to the festivities by making his own fireworks to assist in Undyne's act. 

     On their last night before Asgore's ceremony, and possibly the first one on the surface in a while, the human and Flowey ended up spending the night at Toriel's where she planned to give her final goodbyes to her old home. 

     "Things are certainly looking up," the human told her as the three walked through the ruins. All around monsters that were originally in hiding raced around anxious about tomorrow while conversing about what plans they have for when they get to the surface. 

     "True enough, you've done so much for us my child," she responded. 

     "You've also come a long way, what's it like having everyone acknowledge you as royalty?" They asked. 

     "It's not what I was expecting. I honestly feel embarrassed every now and then when monsters bow their heads at me whenever I walk by. All the time I have to remind everyone that I'm not their queen anymore. After all I've been through, I don't think I could handle the expectations of being a ruler again," she explained. 

     "I understand perfectly, Asgore was certainly bothered by the fact that I couldn't stay who he wanted me to be, but there's no changing the fact that I lost that soul so long ago," he responded. 

     "Yes, I know how he feels, but the past is something we have to tolerate because in no sense can we erase it from our minds. That doesn't mean reclaiming pieces of the past is impossible. In fact, ever since we've patched things over with Asgore I was able to talk about my history with him, and every day he shares various memories I had lost and even shows me several pictures I hadn't seen in who knows how long," she explained. 

     "That's awesome, I'm glad he's doing the best he can to make amends with everyone," the human responded. 

     "Yeah, even though we won't be seeing Asriel again, I can safely say that there's no chance I'll forget about him anytime soon," she said. Meanwhile the three of them came upon the same flower bed where the human had fell so long ago. 

     "I can't believe all that's happened since then," Flowey said. 

     "Yeah, I never thought about what it'd be like to find out about the existence of monsters," the human said. 

     "It was a surprise to us all the day Asriel found Chara here and brought them to us. We were worried that a human finding this place would lead to danger but we couldn't ignore him as he pleaded with us to help them. From then on, the two inspired us that one day we could forge a peaceful bond between humans and monsters," Toriel said while placing one hand around the human. "Thank you so much for reminding them of the good memories they gave us," she said. 

     "Tomorrow everyone will finally be able to see the sun, and it's thanks to you," he said while looking at the orange above signaling sunset on the surface. 

     "Yeah, but it was only possible because of the friends I made along the way," they responded. Toriel wrapped up the evening with a picnic in front of the flower bed before they all returned to her house. Toriel passed the remainder of the night by creating new memories with the duo using her recently reacquired camera before talking about her plans for the future and how she wants to be a teacher once she regains her sharpness. 

     "Alright, good night everyone," Toriel said while seeing the duo off to bed. 

     "Good night, Toriel," the duo responded. 

     The next morning came around and Toriel brought the duo to the castle with her where the rest of the gang as well as Asgore awaited them. When everyone had gathered around the castle to hear Asgore give his speech, there was slight unrest among his audience who still had a few doubts. With a raise of the hand Asgore silenced all the residents before proceeding with his speech that addressed the subject of each monster having to set an example to avoid raising hostile attention on the world above. The event ended rather well with the human well convinced that for the most part, even if not fully, the remainder of monster kind shared his idea of staying out of trouble on the surface. 

     "Once again I thank you all for coming here this day. I'm confident that with our united efforts we can effectively change the image the surface has associated with us, so without further ado let's begin our journey into the new future by introducing our new and old friends to the sun," Asgore said while heading to the door at the back of the throne room. 

     Slowly but surely everyone was escorted through the castle, to the throne room, and out the back door where the barrier that used to restrain everyone no longer stopped them from escaping. Everyone poured out of the mountain to bathe in the rays of the sun, and those who were attempting to go too far were impeded by the royal guard members that made sure to scout out the area beforehand. 

     "Keep your cool, everyone. Until we've properly handled the negotiations, it's best to avoid drawing too much attention to ourselves," Asgore said as more monsters started to run around. 

     "It's cool, we have the perimeter covered. Our most hypersensitive guards are managing the ring so no monsters are running off, and no humans will know we're here until we're ready," Undyne assured him. 

     "Ok, but what do you have in mind should a human happen to find this place or see a guard?" Asgore asked. 

     "They won't see our guards, we have the best ears in business on our side and if a human does walk in on us we'll deal with them after they wake up," she responded. 

     "Oh, because they'd pass out if they found us here, right?" He said. 

     "Hopefully, if not then this punk will have to stop things from getting violent," she said while giving the human a playful punch on the shoulder.  

     "Everyone's been accounted for your majesty," Mettaton said confirming that the last monster to attend his meeting has made their way to the surface. 

     "Sweet, let's enjoy this for a bit. You guys don't have to go out there today you know," Sans said. 

     "That's right, the world won't end if you guys enjoy one day on the surface," Papyrus agreed. 

     "You should, I know I was planning to," Alphys joined in. 

     "That's cool and all, but I'm not sure what we'll do being limited to the forest below," the human responded. 

     "Nonsense, monsters have always excelled at making the most out of the little things," Asgore said. "Once we get the humans to warm up to us, we'll be able to do so much more," he finished. 

     "Alright, it won't hurt to enjoy ourselves for another day," the human said. 

     "Yeah, we'll definitely take hold of the future tomorrow," Flowey followed. 

     The gang then made their way down the mountain together eager to explore even the smallest area around the mountain. However, things got strange as the human noticed that all of their friends were starting to move slower and slower. Before they could ask what was going on, all the sound going on around them seemed to vanish as their eyes only picked up the world in shades of gray again. 

 _Something's not right here, it looks the same but something completely different is happening right now. I'm not pulling off a reset or triggering a save state, so what's going on?_ They thought. Things got weirder as the human noticed a pitch black void hole expanding from their chest. Before they knew it, the void expanded almost instantly to the point that it seemingly consumed the world. 

     "Where am I?" They said while waving a hand through the void. No letters floated about this time, and the cognitive devices they were used to making didn't appear either. "It's crazy enough that this is happening out of nowhere, but at least the hollow world changed with a bit of imagination," the human said. 

     "I'm sorry about that, building a connection between us was much harder than I thought," an unknown voice said. The human instantly looked around but couldn't find anyone. 

     "Who are you? Where are you for that matter?" The human asked. 

     "Oh, my physical appearance hasn't made it to you just yet. Just give me a moment please, and don't worry, you're not in danger or anything like that," the unknown being said. 

     "Alright then, you must know something about these places if you're able to find and connect to other people. What kind of monster are you?" The human asked. Laughter suddenly filled the void as a silhouette of similar likeness to the human's formed in front of them before developing its own color. The human's jaw had dropped as they noticed the mystery being wearing a green shirt with cream colored stripes and brown pants. 

     "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not a monster," the being said while holding out one hand in the human's direction. "Greetings, I'm Chara, a human like you," they said while still offering a handshake. 

     "You're the first fallen," the human said while shaking Chara's hand. 

     "Yeah, I wanted to thank you. Despite having died, I couldn't help but feel restless as I watched you journey through the underground. I was heartbroken when dad had pushed aside his compassion and it felt worse knowing that I was mainly to blame. I tried to let go but I was more than curious when you fell down there seeing how you possessed the final soul," Chara told them. 

     "Your fault? What did you do exactly?" The human asked. 

     "Did you forget? It was with my soul that Asriel crossed the barrier that day. You aren't the first to put the culmination of their entire being into helping monster kind," Chara reminded them. 

     "Oh, I remember now," the human answered. 

     "Yeah, he wouldn't have been in harm's way were it not for me. He could've annihilated the humans that attacked us that day and I told him to do so, because I felt that it was worth taking the six lives if it meant fulfilling all of their hopes and dreams, and I was more than willing to fight if it meant not losing him," Chara explained. 

     "Wow, that's not what I expected at all, the story was already pretty dark," the human responded. 

     "True, if I'm to be honest I never thought I could bring about the future dad wanted for us. I wasn't dealt the best hand when it came to humanity, but my feelings toward monsters has always been genuine. Finding out how they came to be trapped didn't help improve the image I was given of humans, but I see how the course of action I took was problematic and unnecessary seeing how the monsters I cared about so much became ruined," Chara continued. 

     "I understand, still, the monsters tend to retain the good memories you've shared with them, and from what I heard the other six humans to fall also tried to reawaken the compassion everyone had lost. Monsters know that not all humans are bad which is why they gave you a home, and I'm sure that Asriel would forgive you given the chance," the human responded. Chara proceeded to laugh while using one hand to wipe away a tear. 

     "You're way too cool, anyway, thanks for finding it in yourself to spare all those monsters even when it seemed like the world would end before they came around. Unfortunately, there's nothing more you can do here," Chara said. 

     "No problem, the monsters were- wait, what do you mean?" The human asked, interrupting their own sentence. 

     "I'm sorry you have to go through this, but the world you've encountered is like a labyrinth. There's nearly infinite choices for you to make, endless conversations to participate in, and different events that happen as a result of other outcomes, however, all ends lead back to the beginning," Chara explained. 

     "I... don't understand," the human responded at which point Chara placed one hand on their left shoulder while letting out a sigh of regret. 

     "There's nowhere to go beyond this point. Should you leave here, just about every interaction you've constructed will be undone and you'll wake up on a bed of flowers yet again. A few things tend to remain imprinted but other than that, it's like you were never here," Chara finished. 

     "No... It can't be," the human said while starting to panic. Meanwhile the void started to violently vibrate all around them while their hands began to shake for reasons of their own. 

     "I knew this was a bad idea," Chara said as they tried to get the human's attention to no avail. 

     "It can't be!" The human shouted as the option to reset appeared before them while there was no continue to be seen. 

     "I get it, but you can't do this you know," Chara tried to reason with them. "You have to snap out of this right now," Chara continued but there was still no reaction. "If you lose your determination in null space, you'll die permanently," Chara warned them, but at this point they were trapped inside of their own head. 

     "It can't be," the human repeated once more. At that point Chara gave a sigh of annoyance before grabbing the human's left hand. 

     "Forgive me for this," Chara said while slamming the human's hand on the reset option. Silence filled the void as the rumbling came to a stop and both humans were removed from null space.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Facts:  
> I'm sure you've noticed that several times in the story I would make quotes referencing characters actions serving the purpose of creating a new generation of stronger monsters. This is an homage to the RPG Tales of Symphonia where the main cluster of antagonists are united by the saying- Glory to the Coming Age of Half-elves
> 
> Lordskin and Flame Watcher's persona are abilities that easily associate with final fantasy and persona in their inspiration. The first is easy knowing what Stoneskin is but the second actually references the shadow Asterius from persona 4 arena despite goats not being bulls
> 
> Flowey/Asriel being the second main character means he's been behind each of the human's decisions rarely affecting how the human goes about dealing with monsters. The cycle is broken by having the human as well their bonds serve to empower him, since he's the only who can spare Asgore
> 
> Originally the Harmonic Encapsulator was a myth I made up just to depict that Alphys has a reasonable cause to be hostile around Mettaton, It was later that I realized that the device as well as Endogeny could serve as a mock explanation as to how I could find a way to steal the soul of the main character
> 
> Upside down ideas I wanted to use for this part of the story include the gang meeting Ariel in a pacifist route as well as an aftermath celebration similar to the true pacifist credits happening in the underground


End file.
